Same Crap Different Day

[Kaci Denvers]

Creak.

Eyes flew open, her knife out and pointed in front of her in an instant. Her heart pounded beneath her chest as blue eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. Upon a breath she relaxed backwards, her eyes slipping closed once more as she tried to steady her thudding heart. Heaving in a deep breath her eyes slowly cracked open once more. The room she was in was completely empty; no one was inside, no evil that was threatening to sink teeth into tender flesh. She was completely alone. As the weight of that thought settled in on her she felt even worse than she did when she had gone to sleep. Kaci had never minded the thought of being alone before, in fact being alone was much better than the alternative. Now though being alone was the difference between life and death. Kaci had never been a light sleeper, but walking for miles after miles, after miles, until you could do nothing but collapse down in the closes, and what seemed to be the safest place. These days though, how the hell did you know if something, or somewhere safe.

With a groan she slowly pushed herself up from the floor, her back creaking and protesting in annoyance. Sleeping on the floor was never a good idea, especially when it was as cold as it had dropped. She walked around the room, keeping her steps light, she was slow to bringing herself back to focus, and the last thing she needed was her steps bringing any attention to her. Stopping in the centre of the room she assessed her surroundings. She had settled into an abandoned bar the night, settling on the upstairs rather than the downstairs knowing that any noise made on the steps would alert her to any presence, giving her enough time to react. She had lined a set of glasses she had found outside the door, there was no way anyone would be able to enter the room without her hearing first.

Rolling her neck she stepped over towards the only window in the room, her body pressing against the wall as she slowly peered out of the window. Blue hues took in the street and she let out a deep breath. It seemed more of the infected had surrounded the street since the night before. It had been difficult getting into the shop as it was and it seemed that it was going to be just as hard getting out. Sighing she shook her head slightly, her hand brushing through her hair, pulling it free of the bobble that held her hair in place, before smoothing out any tangles then retying it. There was no use delaying, she needed to get out and find her brother, he wasn’t here, and she hadn’t seen him so far as one of the infected, but as days past and weeks, what were the chances he was still alive?

Moving away from the window she moved over to the bag she had been using as a pillow, bent to retrieve it from the floor, felt along her hip for her weapon and let out a deep breath as her hand withdrawn the blade. God what she wouldn’t do for her guns once more, damn those bastards to hell. Pulling open the door that would lead her down the steps and into the main bar she hesitated. Who knew how long she would remain safe inside, no, best get the dangerous job out of the way. Stepping over the glasses she pocketed one and shoved another in her bag, who knew when they would come in handy.

When she got down stairs she did another quick sweep of the bar making sure she didn’t miss any of supplies, there were none, just like there hadn’t been any the night before. Not good, she was running low on supplies and unless she found some soon? She didn’t even finish the thought. Her blue hues shifted over to the side and she let out a breath, hand closing around the door, with a silent pray she pulled the door open and stepped out onto the street.

[Aaron Voegele]

It seemed that in the Dead World day time could never come fast enough and night was extremely scary; trying to sleep with the infected moaning was hell. Aaron was in Kansas City searching for any of his family members, he found his Step-Father with a bullet in his head at his apartment, and no sign of his brother or sister, he wasn't even sure that they were still alive, but he still held on to that small strand of hope that they were. It had been a week since he had seen anyone, he was looking for some survivors and supplies. He found a gas station on his way and raided what was left; he found some baked beans and other non-perishables and a dead police officer, he took the pistol and extra clip off of the body, even though he had a weapon you could never have too much firepower.

He snuck down the street avoiding all the undead that he could, most of them stuck to the main roads looking for their next meal, but he found a few stragglers as he weaved through the alley ways. He was used to having to keep a low profile; one thing about small unit tactics that was very practical was being sneaky, and he was good at it. As he pressed down the street he saw a bar he figured he would go take a look and see if there was anything that was salvageable, not likely seeing as most people raided what they could in their frantic panic. Still it couldn't hurt to take a look. He stood in an alleyway across from the pub, there was a lone zombie hobbling toward the street to the bigger group converging on the road, he would have to be careful.

He crouched down and moved toward the ghoul, looking for some glass or something sharp to end it's wretched existence. He saw a crowbar lying on the ground and picked it up, inching toward the zombie he stood and down struck to the top of its skull, hearing the crack of the bone it fell into a pile of trash. He would have to run across the street, and not fire his weapon, as it would alert the ghouls to his presence. He looked to the bar and saw that the door was opening, there was someone alive there and he had to go see who it was, for all he knew it could be his brother or sister.

He stepped out into the street and ran across, kicking a glass bottle the small horde turned to see what it was and started converging on his position. "Go! Go back in to the building!" Aaron yelled pushing the person back in. He turned around and got his carbine out aiming it to the door; making sure that if any infected came through that they would only make it to the threshold. He heard them start beating on the door and turned to the woman he shoved into the building. "We have to get the fuck out of here, and now that door wont last long."

[Kaci Denvers]

Some days the only thing that kept her going was her father. Not her real father, the dick that had put her life through hell, but the man that had took her in, introduced her to his family and made her a part of something. He had taught her what it was like to love, what it meant to be cared for and wanted. When things got tough and she honestly had no idea why she was even doing it anymore she thought of him, and the way he had looked in those last moments. Taking his life had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do, and if she was alive it was for a reason so there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to go down without a damn good fight, and that was exactly what she told herself as she readied herself to step outside.

She was in need of a new weapon, her knife was no longer going to cut it, she hated getting close to those things, it was a risk, teeth weren’t the only things that were a danger to you. Hands, and their blood was just as dangerous. People may have been immune to the infection, but immune to the virus in the blood, no one had survived that yet, or at least she didn’t think so, she wasn’t apart to test out the theory. No, she needed to live, there was a reason she had survived, she had to believe that, and if it meant finding her brother alive then so be it. With a deep breath she told herself again that she was alive for a reason, that Ollie had taught her better than to give up, with that in mind she pulled open the door and stepped outside.

Several things happened at once, a sound of scattering glass touched her ears, and her body shifted towards the sound. The moans of the infected became louder, and her gaze shifted in that direction, knowing they were the biggest threat. Then a voice, deep and commanding telling her to get back inside, she didn’t turn to look at the voice just the infected that had congregated together, they turned as one and focused not only on her but the male that had ordered her inside. She didn’t need to be told twice and she was already back up and back into the bar when a very hard, and male body barrelled into her, shoving her inside and closing the door behind him.

Heaving in a deep breath she snapped her gaze away from the male and to the door, the infected banging on it and she knew what would happen if they got inside. Swallowing her gaze slide down to the weapon in his hand. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare one of them would you?” She questioned, no lose in asking right? Dark hair fell over her shoulders as she shifted her gaze to the back of the bar. Blue hues taking in every square inch of the place, it sounded like every infected from miles around was banging on that front door.

“Theres a door that leads out into the alley” She muttered quietly, her voice getting lower as she backed away from him, her weapon hanging loosely at her side. Without hesitation she slowly pushed the door open far enough that she was able to stick her outside, her gaze shifted from left to right before back again, then she slid back inside.

“We’re clear” Propping the door open with her body she shifted her gaze towards the male. “Lets move. Now”

[Aaron Voegele]

He looked at the female with his ice blue eyes when she asked for a weapon. "As a matter of fact I do, here and here is the extra clip," he said handing her the police pistol and the bullets. She went on to telling him that there was a door that lead to a back alley and that would be their best bet, she told him to move and he didn't hesitate he moved out of the door into the alleyway. "Watch your corners and watch your six, never know when one of them is going to pop out," whispered Aaron as he moved down the alley.

He hoped they wouldn't encounter anymore but he knew that was just a false hope. There was only one place he knew to go on Westport that was even remotely safe, it wasn't far from here either, a guy he met had lived in an apartment on Lawrence ave. not too far from where they were now. "I know where we can go, follow me." He started running down the alleyway and to one of the main roads, "Keep close to me," Aaron said picking up his pace. He turned on Broadway, checking his left and right for any signs of the infected, and right before he made it to Lawrence he was grabbed by a ghoul.

It bit for his neck and he shoved his left hand in its face and punched it with his right, then throwing a kick to knock it down. Not soon after another one popped out from one of the abandoned buildings and tried biting him on his arm, grabbing his gun he spun with his stock and hit the ghoul to the ground. He fired a round into the head of the first ghoul that he knocked down, it was a bad idea it attracted a group of 8 zombies to their position. "We have to get out of here now!" Aaron yelled firing another round into the other zombies head. He looked at the group of undead coming after them, he didn't waste anytime he booked it down the street to the loft complex where his friends apartment was.

[Kaci Denvers]

For a moment she simply gawked at him her blue eyes sparkling as she looked at him. She hadn’t expected him to answer her let alone hand over a weapon as well as extra ammo. He didn’t even give her the customary this is how you used it speech. He just handed it over and went back to watching that door. Kaci found herself just staring at him for a moment, dumbfounded. Wherever he had come from she hoped there was more of him, she had started losing faith in the human race, or what was left of it, yet this guy was slowly restoring her faith and she didn’t even know his name. Ducking away from him she stuffed the spare ammo into the pocket of her jacket and moved to the back entrance, her hands working the familiar route of checking the clip and taking of the safety. The weight felt good in her hands.

Cool wind hit her features as she pressed the door open, it creaked slightly but she doubted the noise would attract anyone, their attention was on the main door, trying to get into them. If they got inside before they were in the street they were dead. Simple. Her gaze scanned the outside quickly, her gun resting loosely at her side ready to snap to attention at any second. She liked the security that guns brought to her, but really they were as deadly as the infected. One shot and it draw any infected that was around to heart it, and it wasn’t just the infected you had to worry about but the humans as well. It was dog eat dog out there and they all wanted to survive, Kaci was more than thankful she had run into someone who didn’t seem to live by that moral code.

The second she gave him the all clear he was moving over to her, she kept the door propped open far enough for him to exit before she eased it closed once more. She doubted anything would be attracted by the noise of it closing but she didn’t want to risk it “You sound like my father” She muttered, the words were spoken softly, more to herself than to the male running in front of her, and she doubted he even heard her. As he took off in front of her she was able to take in his stance, his fluid yet guarded movements. He was military, he had to be. Her father had acted, and spoken the exact same way when he had started training her.

Her eyes steps were soft and light as she rushed behind him, it wasn’t lost on her that she was about to trust her life to him. She didn’t know him, didn’t even know his name and yet she was trusting him…and why? All because he had given her his gun, that didn’t mean anything. Her steps slowed slightly, maybe following him wasn’t a good idea, she had already been burned once before, and those hadn’t even tried to get her to trust them. She had done well so far alone….no, going at it alone was suicide, she had seen that first hand.

Blue eyes snapped to focus when she realized his movements were erratic…infected. Her gun raised ready to take aim and take him out when the male did just that. Lowering her weapon she draw out her knife, close contact was dangerous but there were to many infected that gun was just gonna draw em right to them. She watched horrified and not able to do a damn bit to help as he wrestled with the infected. It was only the groan behind her that let her know she was being snuck up on, spinning around she took a step back, thrusting out with her knife, pulling it back she wiped the blood on her jeans, her gaze shifting over towards him. Infected down, space to run.

Stepping over the fallen infected her steps picked up once more and this time she fell behind him. He wanted her dead he’d have left her for the infected. “Name’s Kaci” Her gaze did a quick once over of him, checking him for any sign of visible marks, those infected had got damn close. “Tell me they didn’t get close to you” Blue eyes showed a slither of concern before she pushed it away back under her cool mask.

“How much further and tell me its safe those things are right behind us”

[Aaron Voegele]

After they had disposed of the attacking infected she introduced herself, she said her name was Kaci, this really wasn't a good time for introductions. Aaron simply smiled "I am Aaron, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, yeah they got close, but I didn't get bitten or scratched," he reassured. The last thing he needed was to be turned into a flesh eating monster. The though surfaced in his head that she could easily kill him and take what he had, seeing as he gave her a gun. Somehow he knew that it wouldn't be an issue because he could have just killed her; she was weaponless before they met, that much was obvious to him. Also the fact that Aaron was very trusting, sometimes it worked to his disadvantage and he hoped that this situation wasn't one of those cases.

"Yeah we should keep moving, remember watch your six." Aaron said turning around and running toward the lofts, he hoped that his buddy Johnny was still alive, but in the Dead World that was almost never the case, most of the population was eradicated. He saw few stragglers and capped their heads as he approached them. "It's not far now, its that loft right there, and thankfully he lives on the first floor, and yes it is safe. Or well it should be.." The fact that he wasn't sure bothered him a little bit, but there were only a few residents in the building.

Finally they approached the loft, it was one of the smaller lofts in the Kansas City area, that it seemed was stroke of luck. Aaron would be glad to get inside to safety, he hated being out for prolonged periods of time, it decreased his life expectancy. "Stay close," he said pulling her closer to him, the barrel of his gun up and ready. "Down the hall three doors, and its the one by the stairs." Aaron said aloud talking himself through. "Alright lets hope that he is alive or that nobody is home," he snickered, not a good time to make jokes but hey it couldn't hurt morale right?

He checked the door to see if it was locked, it wasn't. Not a good sign, but it wasn't wide open like some of the other doors. As he opened the door a ghoul came out of one of the other apartments, and he was a runner. He dashed toward them, Aaron opened the door before he fired a shot. The shot hit the knee of the zombie, it streaked, not in pain but in primal rage. He fired another shot to shut it up and headed into the room. When they got into the room he noticed that no body was home. He hoped that Johnny was somewhere to be found. "We should check the rooms,"

[Kaci Denvers]

She locked his name into the back of her head, committing it to memory. He didn’t seem to be impressed that she was asking him his name, which she couldn’t blame him in the slightest. They were running for their lives, infected on their tails, and they were running into a situation they knew nothing about. They could die at any moment, or worse. In the last three weeks Kaci had made it her mission to find out any name she could, if she ran into someone, or someone stopped and helped, Aaron had done more than that. Not only had he pushed her back into that bar, but he had given her a weapon, something she had greatly needed in this world. He hadn’t needed to do it, he didn’t need to help her out, only he had anyway, she was grateful for that.

Laughing and shaking her head she let out a deep breath at his words, “Watch your six yea I got it” She muttered shaking her head as they continued on their path, she had never been more glad in her life for the fact she knew how to run and that her body had been conditioned to run for miles on end before her body even started putting up a semblance of resistance. In this life now it was the difference between life and death. She watched as he worked his marksmanship. He was military, had to be. That or he was just very trained and a guy on the wrong side of the law. Should she be trusting him, probably not, but a quick look over her shoulder let her know turning and going back wasn’t an option. Twisting on the spot she fired quickly, taking out two of the infected who got to close. Returning back to the front she nodded her head.

“Here’s to hoping” She stated gently, continuing up with his pace as they made the distance over the street. She would have much preferred something higher up, made it a hell of a lot easier to keep the infected away, the only upside to being on the ground floor was the fact you could get out of the room quick. Her steps slowed as they draw closer to the loft. Her gaze did a quick sweep up and down the street, and then up and down the loft to make sure the building was secure. It looked it, but that didn’t mean anything, not any more, they wouldn’t know anything until they got inside.

Letting out a shocked gasp as he pulled her closer to him she eased out of his grip, putting a slight distance between them. There was close and then there was close. It was a dangerous life and they couldn’t risk being to close. Lifting her blue gaze over towards him for a moment she did a sweep of his profile before returning her gaze to the loft, her fingers clenching around the weapon in her hand. She was not looking forward to going inside. Letting out a deep breath she fell in behind him and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.

“Alright then let’s do this” She muttered slowly stepping in, walking down the hallway, her steps light as she moved behind him. Pressing her body tightly against the wall she nodded her head at him, letting him push open the door and enter first. How come things were never easy? Pushing away from the wall slightly she watched him slide into the room, taking a shot at the infected that came from another door. Her own weapon fired, and the sound echoed as he let of a shot as well. Watching the infected hit the ground she stepped into the room behind him.

Licking her lips she nodded slowly, “Take that side and ill take this one” Turning away from him she moved throughout the room, quickly checking the space. “Im clear” She called out, returning back to the main area of the room.

“He could be out salvaging supplies” She muttered gently.

[Aaron Voegele]

Kaci yelled out to Aaron letting him know that she was clear. "Yeah I'm clear over here," Aaron responded. He looked around for some food or water containers for a sign of Johnny, there were none, “He could be out salvaging supplies” Kaci said. "I hope so, he was a good man, a little strange, but a good guy nonetheless. Allow me to personally introduce myself, I am Aaron Voegele, Ex-Army Ranger. Oh and thank you for not killing me and looting my body," Aaron chuckled, it was a half hearted joke, but he really was thankful that she didn't.

Aaron finally looked upon the woman he had saved, studying her features. She was beautiful, her soft features had shown bright blue eyes, the looked like his. It was nice to finally find a woman who hadn't tried taking advantage of him on first contact. Now that he had gotten a good look at her Aaron couldn't stop staring. "Sorry for staring at you, I haven't ever seen a woman as beautiful as you before, my apologies if I am being to forward, but I speak my mind." He smiled warmly at her, still gazing at her he realized that in her beauty there was something cold about her, he couldn't pin it but he could feel its presence.

It seemed that Aaron had picked up everything the Army had to teach, though they didn't teach him psychology he studied it while in Ranger school and the military was full of different people allowing him to pick up being able to read people rather easily. Finally turning his gaze from Kaci he looked at the coffee table in the middle of the room, he saw a spiral notebook with a pen latched to the cover, someone had been writing in it. He sat on the couch, leaning his gun against the arm of the couch he opened the notebook and started reading.

"Johnny's notebook, he's been here, we are going to stay the night, he may be back. Also, lock the door if you wouldn't mind," Aaron asked politely, he didn't want Kaci to think that he was ordering her around, the last thing he needed to do was mess up the only relationship he had with anyone in weeks, and even though he had just met this woman there was something about her that he liked. As he went back to reading the journal it stated that everyone in the loft had died by a mysterious fever and he was the only one left, he had went around town scavenging what he could. Aaron skipped to the last entry he made, it said that he had left to go raid the fridge at a Mexican restaurant called Rudy's.

He hoped that Johnny was OK, but he was an tough old bugger, so Aaron hoped that he would be seeing him soon.

[Kaci Denvers]

A sinking feeling settled into the pit of her stomach when Aaron informed her that his side of the room was also clear. That was never a good sign. She didn’t know how close the two men had been, but obviously if they had known each other enough for Aaron to know where he lived, her heart went out to him. There was a chance he had simply gone out to the store, or any of the other places within the limits, but with those things out there, well you never knew. Blue hues shifted over towards him and her eyes creased slightly, he didn’t seem to be overly affected with the news that whoever was meant to be here wasn’t. But then when the world went to shit and everyone you knew was dead, you kinda got used to being disappointed “The strange ones are always the best” She stated thinking back to her father. Not the one who had been the sperm donor but the one who had saved her, taken her out of that god forsaken home and given her a second chance at life.

“I knew it” Laughing gently she shook her head, “Detective Kaci Denvers and your very welcome” She shrugged a shoulder, “Been on the receiving end of one of those myself, don’t see the point, we should be helping each other don’t robbing everyone” She did another once over of the room they were staying in. It would be fine for now, but it was to open, to many risk factors which if they were planning on staying for a while they would have to sort out. That front door both needed locking and barricading and those windows needed taken care of. Another look around happened, there were plenty of things they could use to block the windows but that didn’t mean it would last and they’d all be too heavy to move quickly.

At his words her gaze sifted back over towards him, her brow raised and a soft pink crept over the apples of her cheeks. Ducking her head ever so slightly she shifted slightly, “Er….no its okay, end of the world, gotta get your kicks somewhere right?” Lifting her gaze she smiled up at him, her blue hues finally taking in everything about him. He had the army build about him that was for sure. Tall, handsome and strong. Her gaze raked over his form and she swallowed thickly, oh yea he’d have no problem throwing down. Her type of man. Smiling slightly and praying she hadn’t been caught staring she quickly nodded her head.

“Front door, lock, I can do that” stepping away from him she shoved the gun down the waist band of her jeans, she had got rid of her holster when the group of men had rid her of her weapons. Now she had another one she was going to have to see if she could find a holster, they were so much easier. Ensuring the door was locked she turned, looking back over at Aaron, smiling over at him. “Were you to close?” She questioned with a raise of her brow, slowly stepping over towards him. With a deep sigh escaping her lips she lowered herself down on the couch next to him, her gaze shifting over to the notebook. She couldn’t sit still though, nor could she relax and she was tempted to get up and get pacing but that would be no good for anyone.

“If we’re staying here we need to secure this place its to open” She muttered turning her head until she was facing him with a smile.

[Aaron Voegele]

Kaci had said the strange people were always the best, "Right you are, and he is strange." Aaron laughed, if Johnny had died it really didn't matter at this point. In the Dead World death was something you had to make peace with, if you didn't it would eat you alive. Aaron wasn't surprised that she knew he was Military, it wasn't hard to tell. You could see it in the way he walked, talked, and the way he held a gun was sure to be a dead giveaway. He would have never had guessed she was a detective, that surprised him. Not that he was being offensive it was just unexpected.

Aaron felt a wave of relief wash through him, he would have been so embarrassed if he had gotten shot down. If he had this situation would be very awkward. But he didn't so it seemed that he was home free. He flipped through the notebook one last time before standing up to start barricading the windows. He picked up an end table and began stripping it into boards. "So a detective huh? Interesting, I hear that it's an emotionally demanding job, kind of like when I was in the Army. Though I'm sure you probably saw worse things than I did, I didn't investigate murders, I tried stopping them before they happened. If you don't mind me asking, what city did you work in?" Aaron asked he was quite the talker, he hoped that this woman didn't mind getting her ear talked off. He started putting the boards in the windows.

Aaron looked at her when she asked about Johnny, he wasn't offended he just wasn't used to people asking about his life. "Yeah we were, he was a friend of my fathers, he moved out here and we just started talking and became friends. I also learned some of combat training from him, he is Ex-CIA," he told her. "So how did you know that I was Military? Did you have a family member that served?" Aaron asked, most people couldn't tell he was Military unless they saw his tattoo or had family that had been in or served themselves. Aaron wasn't one of those people who ran around broadcasting the fact he was a Ranger, partly because of the fact he had gotten psychological discharge.

"Agreed it is too open, we should block off all windows,"

[Kaci Denvers]

A breath escaped from her lip as she tapped her foot slightly. She was getting edgy, she didn’t enjoy it, and she didn’t enjoy being trapped in a room knowing that the undead was just outside ready to get to them. It was easier now though, she had someone who could defend her if she needed him to, she had a feeling he would as well. He had been generous to her so far. Giving her a weapon she had lost, and she doubted he would let any harm come to her, which meant both of them could hopefully get some decent night sleeps. They’d have to do it in shifts that was for sure, but unless something happened it would be damn uninterrupted. Pushing herself up from the sofa she moved over towards the front door once more, checking it for security. It was locked, because she had just locked it, but that didn’t mean she felt at ease.

“Had a shitty childhood, it kinda pushed me into that direction” She stated with a shrug of her shoulder. It was roughly the same story she told everyone. She didn’t tell them what shitty childhood meant because most people could put the dots together and come up with the right conclusion, and if they were smart they didn’t give the sympathy card. Kaci hadn’t when people gave the sympathy card, like the knew what it was like growing up in the situation she grew up in, when most people didn’t. She’d rather they kept their mouths shut because if she wanted them to know more she’d tell them more. Blue hues flicked over towards him watching him work, clearly he had the same ideas as she did and she smiled slightly.

“It was tough, but you get to lean pretty quick on you cant let it get to you, I worked out of Detroit” She stated with a shrug of her shoulders. It was how she had gotten the ice queen nickname. She kept her face completely void of emotion when she was at crime scenes, she didn’t let a flicker of emotion cross her features and her colleagues had found it disconcerting. Her partner had been the only one to know that it had gotten to her, but she couldn’t let it show, the victim deserved her best effort and they wouldn’t get it if she was too chocked up in her emotions.

“The pair of you sounded close” She offered softly, it was a bit like her and her partner. They had known virtually everything about each other, he had helped her and in return she had opened up to him. It didn’t help that the first time they had met he had pulled her sealed record and she had put him on his ass in front of everyone. Ever since then they had been as close as close could be.

“My father was military, Marine. After he finished he joined the FBI, its another reason I wanted to become a cop. He was a good man, put me on the right track” Stepping over to him she moved past him and into the kitchen, rummaging around the draws until she found what she was looking for. Nails and hammer. “Gonna be a little noisy but hopefully it wont draw to much attention” She stated offering the equipment to Aaron while she grabbed the boards, and placed one of them up at the windows.

“How long did you serve?” She questioned turning blue hues over towards him and offering him a bright smile.

[Aaron Voegele]

A shitty childhood, Aaron knew how that was. His childhood wasn't really a walk in the park either. "I know how that is my childhood was not the greatest either, in fact it sucked ass." Aaron chuckled, he wasn't giving her any sympathy; not because he didn't feel bad but because he knew what it was like growing up in a broken home. He continued working keeping his mind off the past, dwelling on those things could eat you alive if you let it.

Aaron raised a brow at what she had told him. "Detroit? Wow, that used to be one of the most crime filled cities before the outbreak, I imagine that you saw some pretty fucked up shit," and of that he had no doubt, it was a bad city that was in the top 5 crime rated cities every year ever since he could remember. He lived in Kansas City for most his life and things got pretty heavy here he couldn't imagine what it was like in a bigger city with more people. "Yeah that man did a lot for me when I was a kid, though after I left for the Army we didn't really talk at all, shit after I left for the Army I lost contact with everybody but my mom," He trailed off, he didn't feel like talking about his mother, he still didn't accept the fact that she was gone. He was thankful she changed the subject, telling him about her father. "Interesting...I wanted to be an FBI agent before I went to the Army, and when I was in the service I trained a little with Marine Force Recon." Aaron wasn't a fan of Marines they had some weird sense of self-righteousness, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"I think we should be fine, Ill kill anything that comes through that door." Aaron smiled at her, "I served 5 years, then I got a psychological discharge after my whole unit was killed in Kuwait."

[Kaci Denvers]

Blue hues shifted over towards him and she gave him a stiff nod of her head. She was glad he hadn’t asked her anything more, but then if his childhood had been shitty he wouldn’t. Sometimes you just knew, and you knew the best thing to do was keep your mouth shut. She wondered what his childhood had been like, if he really knew what a shitty childhood was, or if he just thought he knew. It was in the eyes though, whether he had gone through the same abusive crap as her or not, he knew what a shitty childhood was like and her respect went up for him instantly. He didn’t push her which was a good thing because there was no way in hell she would stay in anyway with someone who went about questioning her about her past, because with questions came the sympathy and Kaci hated sympathy, it didn’t do jack shit and she really hated the whole, im sorry crap. Why were they apologising? They hadn’t done anything so the whole thing made little sense.

Nodding her head she brushed a hand through dark locks “I used to go into work thinking I’d seen everything, then id catch a case that would prove I hadn’t seen everything” She gestured around them “Now its safe to say iv seen everything” Shrugging a shoulder slightly she shifted her stance, bouncing on the balls of her feet, she hated being trapped and that was exactly what she was, trapped and it was about to get worse, “It’s a tough job but someones gotta do it right” Turning her back on him she headed into the kitchen, rummaging the draws. They weren’t gonna stick those boards on the windows with glue, finally finding the hammer and the nails she returned to the main portion of the room. He had been talking about family and just like he hadn’t done before she didn’t push, in fact she changed the subject, and she was glad he was more than ready to defend her.

“I know I said this before, but thanks, for the gun and all” Stepping over to him she offered him the hammer and the nails and placed the first board against the window. “If things go bad I want you to know, I got your back to” Licking her lips she focused on the work they were doing, working together to get the boards up. “How’d you like the marines?” She questioned with a raise of her brow “I know some people don’t like their code” her gaze turned back over towards him and she slowly raised a brow.

“Im sorry to hear that. I know how hard it is to lose people you care about, people you want to protect” Blowing her hair out her face she bent to grab another board, placing it against the window. If he banged them in loosely enough it would make it a hell of a lot easier for them to get out if they needed to. Heaving in a breath her gaze flicked over towards him once more, blue eyes twinkling slightly, okay so maybe they needed to pick up on the small talk so things didn’t get to quiet.

“Ill take the first watch”

[Aaron Voegele]

"I actually thought the same thing after my first tour in the Army, then after I lost my unit I realized how wrong I was. Hell, even in the Dead World I haven't seen everything, its been what three weeks? I've seen some crazy things go down, you never know whats going to happen, this world is very unpredictable," he replied, though being a detective he figured she had seen less action and more gruesome crime scenes.

As a Ranger it was it job to be the killer, so there were somethings that were different that he wouldn't be able to try and level with. She said that in her line of work that sometimes you had to do it right, Aaron chuckled at that. "Yeah, when I was a Ranger you had to do it right every time, no if's, and's, or but's, and if you fuck up they make you pay for it. As a Ranger you aren't bound by the laws of the Judicial system, you have to follow their laws. No questions asked. " Aaron explained if they weren't in a Dead World he wouldn't be able to tell her any of this, as most of this was classified information, but it's not the world they once lived in so it really made no difference.

Aaron loosely put the boards in a window, to make sure that if they had to get out they had a quick getaway. She then thanked him for the gun, "Oh it's not a problem, you would do the same for me, and it's always nice to help someone in need, especially in these times, and thanks, I hope you know I have yours also. No matter what." Aaron smiled at her, but it quickly faded when she asked how he liked Marines. "Well to be honest, I didn't like them at all. It seemed to me that most of the ones I met thought they were better than everyone else, and yes there code is idiotic you should never shoot first and ask questions later. That is the best way to get yourself killed, not all of them were bad, but the majority of them I wouldn't give the time of day." He was serious too, back then he didn't have time to dick around with some stuck-up Marine.

"Yeah in this world though you have to get used to not being able to protect those people, you have to learn to understand and accept death, at least that's what I've learned. Anyway, what brings you to Kansas City if you are from Detroit? You are a little far away from home wouldn't you say?" Aaron prodded, he figured if they were going to travel together they would have to get to know each other.

"Go ahead, I don't sleep much anymore, so I'll be up most of the time."

[Kaci Denvers]

“It seems that the world likes to test our limits, see how far it can push us until we go over the edge” She muttered softly her blue gaze locked on him. Yea the world was going to have its time cut out for her. Kaci got pushed back more times than she could count and she continued pushing on. It was either that or giving up and Kaci didn’t give up. Oliver Wilson didn’t save her from her fathers hands that night for her to give up. It was be a dishonour to her family’s name and she would never do that. Listening to him speak she couldn’t help but realize how the two of them had a lot in common, , sure they were from two different worlds, but they had similar shit going through them. Shitty childhoods, shitty lives, they chose their path though, her a detective, he an Army ranger, and with that came a lot of baggage only so many people knew.

Listening to him she nodded her head slightly “Must have been tough” She stated gently. She knew all about that, of course she hadn’t done the sht he had no doubt done. It had been her job to catch the bad guy, sometimes you had to take a life to save one, and every time you did they stuck with you, they haunted you. They worked quickly together, her lowering to pick up the boards to place them against the windows, and him hammering them loosely into the windows. This place wouldn’t be the best place to haul down for the long haul but it would do for a couple of nights at least. Or she hoped so, she couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten a decent nights sleep on a decent bed, or actually when was the last time she had slept on a bed.

“Your right I would. I don’t understand why some people don’t feel the same” she had no doubt in her mind that she would have died when that group of man had ambushed her, apparently you needed to fear the living just as much as you did the dead “My father said some of the same things” She stated looking over at him with a shrug of her shoulders, “But I agree with you whole heartedly” She admitted with a shrug of her shoulders she had once admitted the same thing to her father much to the both of their shocks.

Her blue eyes sparkled with sadness and once again she pushed it aside, getting sad about thing she had no control over wasn’t going to do anyone any good. Lowering her gaze for a moment she focused on the boards trying not to think about all the people she had to take out in the beginning, her father, her partner. A sigh fell from her lips and she returned her gaze to him “I’m looking for my brother.” She admitted to him, “I don’t even know if he’s alive or where he is”

With the windows boarded up she stepped away, resting her weight on the back of the sofa, blue hues lifting to look at him, “it’s the end of the world, sleep is all we got, difference between life and death” She whispered, “But looks’ like we’re up together then, I don’t sleep either” Moving into the kitchen she rummaged through the cupboards to see if there was anything salvageable “These things are bare” She muttered returning to the main portion of the room and lowering herself down on the couch, drawing her legs into her body.

“So whats your plan Aaron?”